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Lecture focuses on sexual assaults in the military

by Pete Rosenbery

CARBONDALE, Ill. – The SIU School of Law will host a former officer with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corps to discuss the implications of sexual assaults in the military and how they should be handled.

Victor Hansen, who is a professor at New England Law in Boston, will present “Recent and Current Reform Efforts to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.” The lecture is at 5 p.m., April 6, in SIU Carbondale’s Hiram H. Lesar Law Building courtroom.

Admission is free, and the lecture is open to the public. A reception, with an opportunity for Q&A, will follow the lecture.

Media Advisory

Reporters, photographers and news crews are welcome to cover the lecture. To arrange for interviews or for more information on the event, contact Alicia Ruiz, the law school’s director of communication and outreach, at 618/453-8700 or aruiz@law.siu.edu

George Mocsary, assistant law professor, said the focus of Hansen’s presentation will be on sexual assaults that occur within the military. He noted there are debates in Congress and among the media on how these cases should be handled, along with concerns on maintaining order within the military.

“There is always discussion about what is the right thing to do,” Mocsary said, adding that Hansen is a “serious scholar.”

“This will be a fantastic primer on the topic that doesn’t have a sensationalist media version,” Mocsary said. “It will be a very matter-of-fact law-based analysis.”

Hansen joined the New England Law faculty in 2005 and teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, national security law and prosecutorial ethics. Prior to that, he served 20 years in the U.S. Army, with most of that time as a Judge Advocate General Corps officer. In his last assignment, he was a regional defense counsel for the Army’s Trial Defense Service. He has also spent time as a military prosecutor and supervising prosecutor, and was involved in military capital litigation cases as both a prosecutor and defense attorney.

Hansen is the author of several articles on criminal and military law, evidence, and national security issues, including “What’s Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander, Lessons from Abu Ghraib: Time for the United States to Adopt a Standard of Command Responsibility Towards its Own.”

Hansen is a frequent media commentator on military legal topics and has appeared before congressionally appointed commissions and other government agencies regarding military justice reform.

The Gene and Katy Simonds Lectureship in Democracy series was established through a gift from Emma K. (Katy) Simonds, a longtime supporter of SIU Carbondale and the region. Funding supports a lecture, symposium or debate each year on a topic of current or recurring public interest, which explores common sense solutions to issues related to the common good by applying the principles of limited government, popular sovereignty, personal liberty, responsibility and federalism.